Posted by Bill Cassell on Jul 23, 2018

Quick and Lively Summer Meeting

Weather: Mixed, grey, cloudy, sprinkling

Lunch: Delicious! Baked sole, fried chicken, asparagus with cherry tomatoes, pasta with arugula, sandwich makings, mixed fruit, raisin-oatmeal cookies, and black and white cookies! Wash it down with cold soda or water!

Opening Exercises: PP Spencer B. commanded “I pledge…” with crisp authority, while PP Dominic S. gargled a sweet start to “My country tis of thee.” PP Don S. brought meaning to bowed heads with a heart-felt Rotary invocation that called us all to serve others.

Attendance: Attentive and alert! 18 Lexington Rotarians, 1 visiting Rotarian (Paul Thibault - PP Burlington), and 1 honored guest (Bill Gao, a Club scholarship recipient who is heading off to Univ. of Pennsylvania to study business and psychology). I might add that that is a worthy combination of majors.

Bill Gao

Alas, my table had no guest, so we paid!

Welcome Song: Melodious and moving, as usual. America DOES have talent!

Delighted Dollars and Funny Fines: Munificent! Thank you, Allan A. for collecting!

PP Don S. hoped that recent brain research would show that our collective failure to recall his minutes of last week’s meeting was due to: (Circle your choice.) A. Stress. B. Lost notes. (Don paid!)
PP Dan B. suggested that a better excuse would have been, “Rain, no game!” ......Hmm. OK. “Rain, no game!” (Charlie V. would fine me for sure if I quit here.)
PP Don M. fined Cleve C. for moving to another table; but it was duly noted that Cleve did not move to avoid a “no guest” fine, and PP Bob O. generously paid his fine.
PP Bill C. paid and took a few minutes to share the accomplishments of his third graders, who won first place honors in the 2018 NSTA-Toshiba ExploraVision Competition with their innovative wireless farming sensor system that would automatically monitor the condition of soil and crops. Scholarship awards for sixteen 3^rd North Reading graders since 2005 = $140,000!

PP Bob O. paid in appreciation of PP Bill C's. successful 3rd graders.
PP Murry A. paid for his fantastic trip to Brooklyn, where a view of the Statue of Liberty reminded him of his parents’ arrival in this country many dawns ago. Then it was on to Baltimore and Philadelphia.
PP Spencer B. contributed for family time at a lake, and visiting
Visiting Rotarian PP Paul T. (Burlingon) added to Allan A.’s collection duties.
PP Frank S. paid for the joy (?) of adopting a German short-haired pointer puppy that is masquerading as a soon-to-be house trained land shark.
Cleve C. chipped in while thanking everyone that supported his induction into the club, and especially PP Bob O.
PP Dominic S. kicked in some dollars for choking while leading off "My Country tis of thee".
On to Pres. Michelle’s happy dollars to the fine job of substitute “presidenting” by PP Dan O. that occurred last week in her absence.

Announcements:

Pres. Michelle noted that the District Governor will be visiting the Club on September 10th.

Senior BBQ’s are on September 25, 26 and 27.

She suggested that the Club Open House/Membership Drive meeting be moved to October, which was supported by the members.

She also read thank you notes from a Club Scholarship recipient (Adam) who is going to Wentworth and from the Lexington Historical Society.

PP Dan B. reminded members that they should be checking in on the Club web site for updates to the meeting/event calendar and for news when they can’t make a meeting.

Raffle Gifts: Thank you, ARLEX, Patriot Community Bank, Walpole Cooperative Bank. What? Another flying, screaming critter and another stress toy from the third grade?

50/50 Raffle: Cleve C. won! $50! (and donated it back to the club scholarship fund.)

DING! Summer Meeting! No speaker! “Tha…tha…that’s all, folks!”

Submitted by BC